Outpatient Surgery Magazine Recommends Investing in Vein Finding Technologies

The January 2012 issue of Outpatient Surgery includes an article, “8 Tips for Efficient IV Catheterization- Find out the Secrets to First-Stick Success”. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Tip #4. Invest in Vein Finding Technologies
In venipuncture, you have very little margin for error. That’s even more so the
case in patients with difficult-to-locate veins, such as pediatrics, or in those with
vascular damage, such as chronic steroid users and cancer patients undergoing
radiation therapy. You may want to consider investing in light-based and ultrasound
technologies that can help your staff visualize veins beneath the skin.
Sarah Johnson, RN, perianesthesia nurse manager at the Iowa City (Iowa)
Ambulatory Surgical Center, doesn’t have to imagine how much more effective
she’d be if she could locate the veins beneath the skin. She knows, thanks to the
vein illumination device her facility rents.
You slowly move the handheld device over the appendage in which you
want to start an IV, says Ms. Johnson. The device shines an infrared light that
lets you see the vasculature within that limb. “You can see the vein as it runs
down your arm,” she says. “You can see the bifurcations within the vein and
see if the vein is long enough to hold the catheter. This has been a huge help
for us in minimizing failed attempts, especially in those patients that are more
difficult to get IV starts.”

Read the entire Outpatient Surgery Article, which can be found on page 30.